Tamu McPherson is a Fashion Week pro. The street-style icon and front-row regular has attended hundreds (if not, thousands) of shows over the years, and yet still approaches each one as though it’s her first – bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and full of fashion excitement.
Ahead of Dior’s much-anticipated AW25 Paris Fashion Week show, the Milan-based creative sat down exclusively with ELLE UK to discuss her look for the occasion, getting-ready rituals, beauty essentials, how her upbringing and Jamaican heritage have influenced her personal style, and that one cult handbag she’s desperate to get her hands on…
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On her look for the show
‘I’m wearing a white top with buckle straps, that’s shoulder-less and cuts right across the the bodice. It’s really pretty, very feminine, but it is also a nod to tailoring, because it’s like a button-down. I’m wearing it with white jeans that have a relaxed fit. I’ve always loved wearing white in the winter. From the moment I moved to Milan, I would see really chic women and men wearing white jeans with a slick navy jacket or something, and I just thought it was beyond cool. That’s when I knew that the rule I had learned in the United States, about not wearing white after Labour Day, didn’t really matter in Europe.
‘I’m also wearing a cashmere coat in a slight off-white, vanilla shade. I love mixing whites, I think because of watching all those old safari movies where they wore old linens that were never the same white, but blended together and just looked really impossibly chic and luxurious. Then I’m wearing a pair of Mary Jane brogues, that create a great, playful contrast – it’s like a nod to school girl, as well as menswear, and it just feels fun overall. And finally, an iconic Dior saddle bag, that I just think is one of the best styles ever.’
On her glam
‘It’s going to be very clean. I kind of feel like, with this white outfit, you just need something that makes you look like you drink two litres of water a day. Like you get eight hours of sleep a night, take all your vitamins, have one glass of red wine and a salad for dinner, and a piece of dark chocolate as dessert. It’s giving that. I always love the no-make-up make-up look: really natural, sun-kissed, glowy cheeks, mascara, a gloss, a soft lip liner for that ombré look, and that’s pretty much it.’
On the process of getting ready
‘I love not to rush, and I love going through a routine. A nice shower, skincare with my favourite products, laying everything out in an orderly way, having time to put everything on, and leaving enough time to think too. It’s really important to have a zen moment before a big event – it’s essentially a way to contain my excitement and get to really enjoy what’s about to happen. If you’re rushing, there can be friction in the experience.’
On her beauty essentials
‘I’m all about skincare. A good serum to start with – it really does a lot for your complexion – then a rose-water toner and a hero oil or cream. I’m currently using May Lindstrom’s The Youth Dew which is amazing. What I love about her products is the research she puts into them, and the fact she’s not afraid to pull a product off the market until she perfects it, like she did with the clay mask. I’m all about that geekiness and attention to quality. I’m also about to finish my MBR cream right now. It’s one of the most high-end, luxurious creams I’ve ever used in my life, and I’ve been receiving so many compliments about my complexion since I started using it. I love Caudalie’s Premier Cru cream too.’
On what’s in her Fashion Week handbag
‘Day one to three, it’s my vitamins, some healthy cashews, lip gloss, lip liner, and some rose water spray that I decant into a Muji bottle to keep in the car. Then from day four to the end, when the exhaustion really kicks in, it’s candy, gum and loads of other not-so-healthy snacks I probably shouldn’t be eating.’
On the best piece of style advice she’s received
‘Trust your instinct. Because, really, you’re dressing for yourself. You have to be confident with your style and the way that you look, so just trusting your instinct will take you a long way. Even when you’re second guessing yourself, it can help centre you. It can be hard at times, but you need to just have fun with it.’
On her earliest fashion memories
‘Fashion in my home was very ceremonial. My mum and my aunt, who are inseparable to this day, loved dressing me up. It was so much fun. I look back at the family photos, and I feel like I was kind of like their doll. As a baby and even as an infant, on any given day, they would put me in so many different dresses. They were really in it to win it. They were even putting bows on the back of my head before I had any hair!
‘My aunt was an accountant, so I really feel like I was her creative outlet. She also can sing really well, so we’d play dress up and I’d be Tina Turner one day, and she’d like, clamp my hair up and take it out so it’d be wavy, and then I’d have a ton of beads on and a tie dye shirt the next, and she’d be practicing with me. So that’s how it was at home, like, all the time. They were so stylish – it was the eighties, so they’d do all the great hair, the eyeshadow, the blush. They are real girl’s girls, and that’s what I grew up surrounded by.’
On her personal style
‘I’d describe it as adventurous – and because I have all of these good essentials to fall back on, I feel like I can play when I want. I feel very comfortable with doing a really pulled-together outfit too. I grew up in a West Indian family, so I’m really, really comfortable with colour and patterns, out of necessity.
‘People often ask me, “how do you manage to mix and match?” And I always say, we’re coming from a situation where, like, we don’t have Fifth Avenue, we don’t have a high street, we don’t have those things. We have markets, we have some fashion boutiques. And it’s really out of necessity. You just need to know how to put things together in a fun way. And there are obviously fewer rules, so in that kind of chaotic, magical setting, things just work. And I think if you are born surrounded like that, you can really infuse that into your style.’
On trends
‘I love trends. I’m totally into trends, but I think I have developed an aesthetic over the years which allows me to interpret them to fit into my own style. There are so many trends right now that I’m excited about, like all the plaids from the Cruise collections, the full sets. I love the trainer crazy – we all thought it was going away, but it’s not. I love all of the leather we’ve been seeing this season, the multiple layered accessories, the oversized glasses and sunglasses. There’s just so much to love. I used to say I would never do goth because it’s the opposite of my sensibility, but if the right designer does it, and it looks great, I may try it any way. That was my only thing, but I never say never anymore.’
On her ultimate cult buy
‘Top of my wish-list right now, and actually something I’ve been looking for for years, is Dior’s red, gold and green saddle bag. It’s my ultimate favourite bag, being that I’m Jamaican, being that it came out in the early 2000s, when dance hall was at its height, when Sex and The City was a huge reference, especially as I was living in New York City at the time. It’s a piece I’d love to acquire through a re-seller, but they’re rare and really hard to find. That’s the only reason I don’t already own one!’
Tamu McPherson wears clothes, shoes and handbag by Dior. Make-up by Taisha Sherwood. Photography by Darren Gerrish.
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Clementina Jackson is Acting Site Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, working across news and features, trends, e-commerce and SEO. She was previously Fashion Editor at Cosmopolitan and Women’s Health, and Acting Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, where she was named as a PPA 30 Under 30 award winner for her work on size inclusivity. An experienced fashion, travel and luxury lifestyle journalist, Clementina has also written for Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Condé Nast Traveller, Tatler, Red and Italy Segreta.
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